ARAB3010 U3.W11 Heavy and light syllable quiz

Arabic syllables always start with a ​ (a)   . Each syllable contains at least a ​ (b)   . A syllable containing only a consonant and a ​ (c)   is known as a ​ (d)   syllable.

• consonant
• short vowel
• light
• long vowel

A syllable is considered heavy in Arabic if it contains either a consonant followed by a ​ (a)   followed by a ​ (b)   , or a consonant followed by a ​ (c)   .

• short vowel
• consonant
• long vowel
• series of consonants

Syllabification:

Complete the transcription with each of the missing syllables from the drop-down menu.

​ (a)   :​ (b)   :​ (c)   :​ (d)   :​ ta' : lī : fi : wal : mak : tū : bi

• rab
• bi
• ta'
• dhāt
• ra
• rabb
• rabbi
• bibi
• bib
• bidh

Answer explanation

Notes:

shaddah is pronounced twice, so it counts as the end of one syllable and the start of the next.

hamzat-ul-qaṭʿ (أ ء ؤ ئ) always counts as a consonant.

"Sun letters" and "moon letters" are very important for scansion!

Syllabification:

Complete the transcription with each of the missing syllables from the drop-down menu.

​ (a)   : ​ (b)   : ​ li : ​ hā : ​ ​ (c)   : ​ (d)   : ti : bil : maʿ : yū : bī

• fagh
• fir
• al
• hādh
• fa
• dhal
• kā
• rli
• ghfir
• lkā

Answer explanation

Remember:

Every syllable must start with one (and only one) consonant. If you have more than one consonant together (in Classical/Modern Standard Arabic), then they will be either side of a syllable boundary (:).

fagh:fir:li:hā:dhāl:kā:ti:bil:maʿ:yū:bī

Syllabification:

Complete the transcription with each of the missing syllables from the drop-down menu.

​ (a)   : ​ (b)   : ​ (c)   : nū : bi : khā : di : ​ (d)   : ṭul : lā : bī​

• baḥ
• baḥr
• udh
• udhdh
• mu
• muṭ
• rudh
• dhu
• mul
• ba

Classify the syllables from the line into heavy and light

Groups:

(a) Heavy syllable (long vowel)

,

(b) Heavy syllable (ending with a consonant)

,

(c) Light syllable

• ta

• dhā

• mī

• faḍ

• ʾi

• wa

• mā

• kun

• lin

Classify the syllables in this line into heavy and light.

Groups:

(a) Light syllable

,

(b) Heavy syllable (CVC)

,

(c) Heavy syllable (C + long vowel)

• man

• 'i ('ayn + kasrah)

• ni

• yu

• bit

• dā

• ya

• ta

• wat

• bir

• qā

• ṭu

Answer explanation

yu:man:ni:ya:bit:ta:qā:ṭu:ʿi:wat:ta:dā:bir

How many heavy syllables are there in this half-line?

• 4

• 5

• 6

• 7

Answer explanation

The long syllables are given here in transcription in bold:

bi-:makh:ta:la:fa-l-:'a:wā:'i:lu: wa-l-:'a:wā:khir.

makh: CVC

fal: CVC

wā: CVV (i.e. consonant + long vowel)

wal: CVC

wā: CVV

khir: CVC

How many light syllables are there in this half line?

• 4

• 5

• 6

• 7

Answer explanation

The short vowels are underlined here in transcription:

fa: 'in:na-sh:-shar:-ra:fī:ja:na:bā:ti:hā:dhā

fa: CV

ra: CV

ja: CV

na: CV

ti: CV

[Watch out for the way hādhā is pronounced with two long vowels]